


Doctor Who: Children of Angels

by MairzyGoats



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (Big Finish Audio), Neon Genesis Evangelion
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Fusion, Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-18
Updated: 2020-07-06
Packaged: 2020-12-22 20:07:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21082346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MairzyGoats/pseuds/MairzyGoats
Summary: A story featuring the Sixth Doctor, as portrayed by Colin Baker in the BBC-TV series, accompanied by Evelyn Smythe, as portrayed by Maggie Stables.





	1. Along Came An Angel

**Author's Note:**

> Dedicated to [AMX004_Qubeley](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AMX004_Qubeley/pseuds/AMX004_Qubeley)\--it is all your fault.
> 
>   


Hakone is an idyllic sight; with its rugged, misty cliff faces and abundant hot springs, it makes for the perfect getaway in summer or winter. However, such luxuries as getaways and vacations became increasingly uncommon in the wake of the cataclysm of the year 2000, as the world was plunged into a new millennium of hardship and strife--not to mention flooding. Massive amounts of flooding. The old coastal cities, former ports standing in glory, welcoming and open, were devastated by tidal waves and some even were extinguished completely by instruments of war. Terrible new weapons of mass destruction were developed in the wake of that catastrophe, and humanity spent years testing them on one another. The N2 mine, a conventional explosive with the near-equivalent yield of a small atomic bomb. The elevated exosuit--human-piloted mecha of increasing size and deadliness. Barely able to stay together, the United Nations lay in shambles, her member countries unsure of what this deadly R&D was truly meant for, save for a few small and highly focused groups of scientists dedicated to global advancement: CERN and GEHIRN in Europe, MIT and Black Mesa in America, cells of tenuous legal existence in Russia, fragments of the--then recently divorced--Unified Intelligence Taskforce worldwide.

The ravages of war having run their course, these think tanks banded together to form larger organizations. Institutions of global scale coalesced under a unified banner of human advancement--and a motto, taken from the familiar end of an often otherwise forgotten piece of English verse: "God's in His Heaven, all's right with the world." This umbrella organization, the forefront of scientific endeavor would come to be called "Special Duty Organization NERV", from the German  _ nerv _ , meaning (of course) "nerve".

In Japan, already two capital cities down, the focus shifted to Hakone, the site of a branch of one of these such think tanks, and upon which a new, truly 21st-century capital was constructed. It was given the name 第３新東京市, New Third Eastern Capital City. Tokyo-3 for short. And it was here, and nowhere else on the planet, did the Angels attack.

The only true certainty was that they would attack. Almost stereotypically, they only converged on one point. For some inescapable reason, Japan was cursed such that any city that carried the name Tokyo was to be inevitably devastated by giant monsters. The reason for the concentration of attacks was discovered by GEHIRN (and later confirmed by NERV) and concerned ley lines and the axis of the planet, supposedly. All the common people knew for certain was that Tokyo-3 was always on guard. But they were defended by the forefront of science, the pinnacle of human achievement, the Evangelion. A humanoid synthetic cyborg carrier the size of a building, its purpose was to take the fight to the monsters' (called  _ apostolo  _ or colloquially  _ Angels _ ) level. And after several successful sorties with three of these Evangelion Units, it was proven that the only logical and proper method of dealing with the Angels was to take them down by Evangelion.

So it was, and life seemed usual this way for the people of Tokyo-3, even for those tasked with monitoring or piloting the Evangelion. The pilots, the lucky so-called Children, happened to be three junior high school students on their way from school to their activities at NERV headquarters, as per routine. It had been some time since the last attack, and though it was a peaceful routine, it did begin grating on them.

"Ugh, are you serious, Shinji? I can't believe you actually called  _ him _ . And from a pay phone. Didn't they give you a cell for that?" The girl with the shock of pinned-back red hair rolled her eyes.

"Who else should I have called? Miss Misato isn't my parent after all, she just watches us. And the school said-" Shinji answered, only to be interrupted again.

"Who cares what the stupid school said? They're just going through their dumb motions. Every kid gets the same treatment, as if we're all going to end up working a desk or a counter. Are you gonna let a bunch of pencil-pushers that have about as much of an IQ as a small dog boss you around like that?"

"But… You're a soldier in a paramilitary organization, Asuka. You get told to do stuff all the time." It seemed like a crack, but Shinji really wasn't the type to take shots like that. More like the question was posed trying to probe the logic in her contradiction. Asuka, judging from her face, however, took it as one.

"Ugh, Stupid Shinji," she scoffed. "You don't get it? That's different. It's a career. We already work for NERV. We're light years ahead of that step. We don't need some  _ dummkopf  _ from the school telling our parents about college or jobs. You really  _ do _ have a problem with that don't you? Doing what you're told. You and…"

Asuka looked at the third one they were walking with. A girl with sky-blue hair in a conservative bob haircut, the contrast being one of the many odd contradictions about her. The girl's aspect hardly ever changed from a very neutral… neutral. In fact, everything about her--from her blue hair and red eyes to her simple white shoes--was neutral. And it was off-putting, especially to Asuka when she was annoyed. Like now.

"Hm?" uttered the other girl. She spoke quietly, so much so, in fact, that it was barely distinguishable from the outside noise.

"...never mind." Asuka groaned again. She looked back at Shinji, and guessed from the sheer pregnancy of the pause there was still more to that conversation she should tap. "Besides. He probably didn't want to do it because he's so busy. NERV runs this city and he's the commander of it all, he's got more important things to do than go to some dumb school career meeting."

"I know but… that wasn't my point," Shinji looked away. Asuka then inferred she was being allowed to win, which pissed her off more than the other girl ever did.

"So what was the real point, you dork?"

"The call ended quickly but… it wasn't like he slammed the phone down or anything. It was almost like he got cut off. Disconnected…"

"You're worried about that? His answer would have been the same either way. You're going to never make it to manhood if you keep on the piddling details, you know."

Shinji didn't answer, and instead hung his head. Asuka raised an eyebrow. She'd ask what his problem was but by this point there was no telling. It wasn't worth it much anyway. Weirdos.

***

"Really, Doctor, must it be so terribly bumpy?" asked Evelyn, fussing at him. Heaven knew, as well as she, however, that he was quite the fusser himself.

"Hm?" he blurted through his nose, as he had done for centuries. "Really, Dr Smythe, one cannot expect travel across time and space to be completely smooth. Like all great seas, the Vortex ebbs and flows and filters away into eddies and distortions. There's bound to be a little chop now and again."

"I understand that, Doctor, I do. It's not that I'm complaining, mind you, the waters are usually excellent. When we weigh anchor, especially. It's only…" she trailed off.

"Only what?"

"It seems to always happen when I'm nearing the end of my cuppa. It's as if of late the Universe conspires that I shall never finish a single cup of tea."

"Yes, well. If that is the case, Evelyn, then perhaps one must take another. Nothing one cup of tea cures that two harms, after all! Even if you can only finish the better parts of both."

She smiled a quiet grin. By now, after traveling as long as they had together, she and the Doctor carried on like the oldest of friends. True, the dashing about and the heroics sometimes played to her lesser points, as she was a bit on the farther side from her prime, but still. She loved it all the same. Although something was worrying her. And it reared its head as the Tardis hit what felt like another bit of Vortex chop.

"Oh!" she exclaimed, finding her footing. "I didn't even have a cup of tea that time."

"Strange, though... Shouldn't be anything to worry about. We're merely passing through a more turbulent area. Perhaps some of what they call time-eddies. Entire histories fading, parallel and extant, locked away."

"Entire  _ histories _ ?"

"Oh, yes. Some say there are countless alternative ends to events. Certain fixed points exist and must never be changed, but the Universe seeks correction. In fact, that task is often undertaken by-"

The Doctor was interrupted by another jolt, this one nearly knocking Evelyn off her feet. He quickly made his way over to steady her.

"Heavens, Doctor. Your alternative histories seem to not want to fade away."

"Perhaps not. Evelyn, are you all right?"

"Of course, Doctor, I shan't fall again unless we-"

On cue, as if it were written into the script, once more the Tardis lurched, hurtling itself across the eddy and into the spiral. The Doctor and Evelyn were hurled into the console, and as she held on for dear life he reached for the stabilizers. Then the materialization controls. Anything to get them out of the timeslip.

"A fine turn of alternate events!" Evelyn exclaimed, clutching white-knuckled at the console.

"Somehow we're being drawn into this chain. It's dragging us in like a whirlpool. Hold on, Evelyn!"

She didn't have to be told twice. 

***

The Children, the sole pilots of the Evangelion and humanity's salvation, had finished their trek from school to work and were now stood at the entrance to the Geofront. Tokyo-3 was, in fact, built entirely above a small city of its own, complete with offices, coffee shops, convenience stores, monorails, and, of course, the storage cages for maintenance, preparation, and testing of the Evangelion units. Fiber optic cables from various points on the surface all collected light and guided it to this hidden city, where it baked the soil and allowed it to produce. Entire fields of grass and enormous gardens made the Geofront lush and verdant, and seeing the beauty of what Man had carved into the world that tried to destroy him made coming to work in the stately blue NERV pyramid, shining as an example of both power and grace for the 21st Century, all worth it.

…unless, of course, one's keycard didn't work.

Shinji swiped his card. Nothing. Two more times. Still nothing. No chime, no light, no rejection message or error. No result whatsoever. Asuka, ever impatient, shoved her way forward.

"You must be doing it wrong, let me!" she barked, shoving Shinji aside. She removed her own card from her handbag and swiped it. Still nothing. Never admitting defeat, she tried again. "What the- Why isn't it working? This stupid thing must be broken!"

And just to show it who was boss, she gave it a swift kick.

***

Dr. Evelyn Smythe, an esteemed history professor well in her fifties, was now holding on to the Tardis console for dear life like a koala in a tornado. The Doctor was himself not much better for the wear. He kept trying to reach a button, any button, to ease this madness and get them on track. He managed to press one good combination, and an alarm sounded.

_ Bing-bong. Bing-bong. _

Assuredly, it binged and bonged like the gentle chime of an indifferent mobile phone in a student's bag. The Tardis began to settle, the bumping and spinning lessening down to ease their fall as the familiar groan of the engines winding down for landing screeched out, albeit quicker and warblier, as if the Tardis were in a hurry to get through a very bubbly patch of Vortex. She skidded to a halt with a crunch, and the bing-bongs stopped, replaced by a myriad of flashing lights and a different chime altogether.

_ Mun-dum, mun-dum, mun-dum, mun-dum… _

Quietly in the background it chattered, with the computers and engines still humming their typical post-landing buzz.

After a solid beat, Evelyn spoke up. "What on Earth… or otherwise, happened?"

"We were being drawn into that time-eddy. I managed to activate the emergency power booster, but…" the Doctor scratched his head.

"But?" she inquired, after a nice leading pause.

"But… well, I- I can't make heads or tails of this. These instruments read we're on course, passing as usual. And these? Well, they… They read as if we're… 

Evelyn was getting tired of the leading pauses. "Doctor, if you please?"

"We're nowhere. As if the emergency power booster used the escape vector, and yet we appear to be somewhere in the extant universe, in normal flight. Very peculiar."

"I should expect there is something of a difference; we can't be moving and nowhere at the same instant. The Tardis would be like a hamster in a wheel."

"Quite. Let's have a look." The Doctor activated the scanner, and the partition before the screen lowered. Strangely, neither report from the instruments seemed accurate. Not only were they not moving, but they were definitely somewhere. The stars in the sky seemed clinically bright, as if they were in an area with just enough and too little atmosphere, but no ground was to be seen, only the distant roar of nebulae and supernovae, cut by a ribbon of light that could only be described as…

"A-Aurora Borealis?" gasped a dismayed Evelyn.

"In this timezone and place, localised entirely around the Tardis? Impossible," scoffed the Doctor. And yet there it remained, an electromagnetic light show on the scanner.

"Could we be in some kind of storm?"

"No, the proximity alarm would have sounded."

"Which one was that?"

_ Mmmn. Boop-boop. Mmmn. Boop-boop. _

"...that one. Let me see if I can- oh, no." The Doctor leapt back to the flight controls, almost slamming at them.

"What is it? I don't know if I can take much more of this…"

"It's the time-eddy. We've not only crossed it, we've been drawn to the center. If we're not careful we're going to-"

_ DONNNNG. DONNNNG. _ The worst sound the Tardis could make. The sound of impending doom.

"The cloister bell…" the Doctor whispered. He quickly turned and switched to his commanding voice. "Take hold of the console, Evelyn, and don't let go!"

"Wh- I-"

But hardly had Dr. Smythe a moment to answer when the Tardis lurched down again, the scanner fading from aurora to the sight of red and flashes of white light, piercing like the spark of a welding iron--in the shape of x's. Or perhaps crosses. Once more the Doctor yelled for his companion to hold on, and the Tardis lights went dark as they hurtled through space. The last image on the scanner… the planet Earth.

***

Asuka had gotten tired of kicking the machine, as she could not make it work that way, so she instead enlisted Shinji to help her remove panels and prod buttons. Shinji of course objected at first, but when it seemed clear that nobody was coming to help them, the logical path seemed to try and get the door open. Though it did prove that something happened and the Commander, Shinji's father, had not slammed the receiver down during their phone call after all, which was a bit of a relief. And who knows? Maybe this was the right thing.

"Hey, Shinji, you done daydreaming?" Asuka asked, petulant as ever.

"Huh?" answered Shinji back, torn from that brief bit of self-confidence in adversity.

"I asked if you tried that button there," she snapped, pointing in his general direction.

"I've tried them all a couple times. Nothing is working. And the lights on these panels are out."

Their compatriot, the quiet, blue-haired girl, spoke up. "Nothing is working. Strange…"

"Maybe something happened in the Geofront," pondered Asuka.

"Logical assumption."

"No one asked you, Ayanami."

"H-hey, maybe we should try something else?" Shinji butted in, trying to keep Asuka from getting in young Miss Ayanami's face.

"Calling the emergency line didn't work either," whispered Ayanami, cool and quiet. She brandished her cell phone, or rather, lifted her arm as quietly as she spoke and revealed she'd had it in her hand all along.

"Wha- When did you even call??!" asked Asuka, completely aghast.

"One moment ago," stated Ayanami, back to her with still no emotion in her voice. Or her eyes. Shinji wondered sometimes how she could stay so clinical.

"Huh. Leave it to Wondergirl. I'll bet you called and got a disconnect message and didn't say anything and that's why we didn't hear you." Ayanami remained unfazed by Asuka's scoff. "Shinji," she bossed, "Why don't you try the landline again, since you seem to love them so much?"

Shinji was already opening the access panel on the wall to the emergency telephone. "Uh… r-right," he stammered, allowing Asuka once again to win. Once again, she didn't take kindly to it but she mortified her disgust to continue as de-facto team leader.

Shinji held the receiver to his ear for a minute or two, occasionally pressing at the call and reset buttons on the access panel. Asuka continued her impatient streak and tapped her foot. "Wellll?" she spat, with an annoyed inflection that seemed to imply that they were all  _ waaaiting _ .

"Nothing," Shinji finally replied. "Not even a beep."

"Huh. Well then… I guess we need to find a hatch with a manual override. Get to it."

"Why me?"

"Because I'm the best pilot, so that makes me the leader."

"But…"

Asuka glared at him, staring him down with the force of a million gargoyles. She was the leader and this was her decision by golly, and she was going to get her way no matter-

"The nearest access port is Route-07. This way," said Ayanami, before quietly departing in the direction she indicated.

"Right! We'll go there, then." Asuka sneered. Besides, a good leader would take suggestions so long as they weren't dumb ones. Ayanami at least knew where things were, unlike Stupid Shinji.

And with that, the three of them were off. Ayanami, followed by Shinji, and Asuka, the Duchess of Plaza-Toro, at the rear.

***

Smoke billowed from the time rotor and somewhere inside the console buzzes and sparks fired off occasionally--the sounds of the Tardis circuits attempting to repair themselves. Thankfully, Evelyn found, she was still in one piece. She clambered up to her feet and leaned against the console, drawing in deep breaths. She placed a hand against her sternum, as one does when they've had a fright, then after a moment slowly moved it leeward, nonchalantly and accompanied by a five-degree head turn, as if she were checking for something inside. A moment passed and she found she had been preserving her dignity for naught, as she hadn't heard another voice yet. Puzzled, she looked about.

"Doctor?" she cried. "Doctor, where-"

Evelyn gasped. The Doctor was splayed, face-down on the floor, his face hidden in his right arm, his left outstretched as if he tried to brace himself but failed on the way down. He was still and silent as a ghost.

"Doctor…" She stepped cautiously to his side and crouched. A hand reached for his shoulder, tenuously, both to be sure that her touch didn't exacerbate any broken bones or to, at worst, forstall the bad news. He still did not move, even as she pushed harder, shaking his shoulder. She managed to turn him over, heavy as he was, onto his back. His eyes were still closed and he didn't appear to be breathing. "Doctor, can you hear me?"

He bolted upright. Evelyn yipped and clutched her chest again in fright. In his calmest voice he responded, matter of factly, "Hm? Yes, of course I can hear you."

"Doctor, you frightened me half to death. My poor old heart…" she said, rubbing her chest. This time, however, she didn't appear to check anything. "I almost thought- you weren't breathing."

"Merely a trance. At the exact moment of impact my body prepared itself for danger and shut everything down. Nothing to fret about, Evelyn, everything is alright," he reassured her, standing and helping her back to her feet. He then patted her on the shoulder and smiled. "No mere fall or bump on the head would be the end of me--far too ignominious."

"How is your head, then?" she asked, looking for a bump.

"Perfectly fine, Evelyn," he said, pushing her hand away. "Now, you sit there and recollect yourself while I see what's befallen us." The Doctor led Evelyn to the stately wooden folding armchair he kept in the control room, righting it and setting her down. He passed the fallen coat rack, made his way to the console, and began pressing the occasional button and checking the computer readouts on the screens. His forehead furrowed and his lips pursed. Things didn't look nominal.

"What's the matter, Doctor? Have we landed?"

"Well we erm. We seem to have. According to the instruments, we are at present both everywhen and nowhen, which means… Well…" He paused a moment to scratch at his earlobe, in his thinking pose. Looking over to her, he noticed she was giving him a look, both encouraging him to continue and chiding him for adding another pause where he probably didn't need one. "It seems there's a fault. Probably explains the smoke. Thankfully not mercury vapor this time."

"Heavens! Mercury vapor!" she exclaimed. The mere thought that she might have been breathing gaseous mercury was awful. "I trust, then, it wouldn't be irreparable?"

"Oh, nothing's irreparable, Dr Smythe, merely… undermanageable. But, it does seem we've landed somewhere. Thankfully we were still using a jolt from the emergency power booster. If we hadn't, the energy from that time-eddy might have torn us apart, or worse."

"I hate to contemplate what would be worse than being torn apart."

"Yes. So would the Tardis. Thankfully, however, she is still in one piece and not without some energy. Surely we can find a usable component or two out there, wherever we are. Let's see." He activated the scanner once more, out of habit, and then noticed the screen was still open. "Ah, I should have known. Faulty circuits," he muttered, scratching his ear and scowling again.

"Doctor, the last image I saw on the scanner before we crashed was Earth. At least the planet. Couldn't say where we crashed landed, but I definitely saw Earth."

"Hm. I suppose if the only seemingly-working instrument is…" he stopped to press a few buttons. A reassuring beep confirmed his diagnosis. "Yes, we should be on the surface of the planet Earth. The trouble is  _ where _ \--that might be harder to diagnose. All of the sensors are reading dark as far as local electromagnetic spectra and radio waves are concerned."

"No television or radio to tell us, then. Could we be in the past?"

"Not sure. There's only one way to find out. Stand well back." He waited for Evelyn to stand, reached over to the other side of the console, and pulled the lever to activate the doors. Fortunately for the sake of being stranded and unfortunately for their building dread, they swung open with their trademark impersonal hum. They looked at each other and shared this dread, then he faced the doors, and took two steps forward. Rubbing the kitty on his lapel for luck, he popped his head out of the door…

And he found himself standing on a street in a very quiet city. Not much commotion going on, really, except for the distant sound of a car that seemed to be saying something about some candidate running for office. "Progress is his middle name" or some such. The Doctor paid it no mind. He poked his head back inside and reassured Evelyn it seemed safe, and then stepped out into the street proper, taking a good few paces away from the Tardis. At first guess, the smell of the air put it possibly at summer. The distant screams of the cicadas chirruped at regular intervals.

"Doesn't look much like the past, does it, Doctor?" remarked Evelyn, stepping out into the light. "Almost about my time."

"Yes, judging from the level of advancement we must be somewhere at the end of the twentieth century. Still. Where?" He started milling about, looking for clues. Too few automobiles, but he moved to check for one anyway just to see the number plate. Before he could become too involved, though, Evelyn pointed off the other way.

"Have you ever heard of Tokyo-3?" she asked, which caught him off-guard. He turned and rushed back, then took a glance at the direction she was looking.

"Where?"

"Over there, across the road. It looks like an announcement board. And there's a logo for a 'Tokyo-3'. Quite stylised." She pointed at a municipal posting board a few paces away. Upon it was indeed a logo, much like a municipal seal bearing what appeared to be a large number three and the word "Tokyo" next to it.

"Let's have a look." The Doctor led Evelyn across the street and over to the board. Sure enough, littered amongst the postings for things that appeared to be public notices, current events, election bills, and advertisements, there were several noticeable mentions of a Tokyo-3. All of the same design, like a logo.

"You don't suppose it's a cultural event? There's only one Tokyo, as far as I understand."

"Yes, as far as this level of advancement is concerned, there should be only the one. And look at this. New Third Tokyo City Water District. Very official."

"These are for local politicians as well. Must be an election on."

"Yes, I just heard an audio advertisement for one from a van. An election in New Tokyo, the Third. Strange...."

Suddenly, a voice rang out overhead accompanied by the sound of rotors. " _ Attention citizens of Tokyo-3, this is the Japan Special Air Defense Forces. There is an angel approaching the city. Proceed to the nearest designated shelter. This is your final warning. I repeat… _ "

"Not much of a final warning if he says it again," quipped Evelyn.

"No, but at least we know that Tokyo-3 is indeed where we are. We have, however, uncovered something else."

"What he meant by 'angel', you mean."

"Precisely. I'm afraid most things that I've heard referred to as 'angels' fell short of expectations."

_ BOOM.  _ Something thunderous crashed in the distance, as if a giant had made footfall.

"That hardly sounds short, Doctor."

_ BOOM _ . Getting closer now...

"Keen observation, Dr Smythe."

"Would discretion be the better part of valor, then?"

_ BOOM _ . Encroaching on comfort, the next might be too close.

"Perhaps so. Come on." The Doctor took Evelyn by the arm and started for the Tardis. No sooner did they step into the street when they quickly encountered what was making that noise. A giant foot, like that of an insect or spider but the size of a shipping truck--attached to an equally oversized, spindly leg--came crashing down in front of them. As fate often had it for the travelers, the foot had separated them from the Tardis. The Doctor held Evelyn by the shoulders, keeping her as far from the foot as he could, and the two of them watched in terror as the foot pressed into the ground and then lifted itself up and over the buildings, offering a glimpse of the creature it was attached to. Thankfully, the Tardis was undisturbed. However, it was now on the other side of a fresh, street-wide crater left behind by the enormous foot.

"I'd never thought of an Angel as an enormous spider!" Evelyn sputtered, drawing deep breaths as best she could in the dust from the destruction. "Not one of our easier days, Doctor."

"Certainly not, Evelyn. Are you all right?"

"Yes… yes, I think so. It seems we won't be getting back to the Tardis after all."

"No, not that way," said the Doctor, inspecting the crater. "Fortunately, our spider-like friend missed it by a few feet. Unfortunately…"

"Unfortunately, I don't think I can cross that." she said, finishing his thought.

"Mmn, nor could I. We'll have to find another way."

"It looks like it's moving away from us. What would a spider of that size want? A large water spout?"

"I think we should find out. There may be more than curds and whey here in Tokyo-3. Come on, Evelyn."

He took her by the hand and at a brisk pace they started for a nearby alley, towards the center of the city, where either answers or more spider legs awaited them.

***

The three Children had been schlepping through narrow service ducts in darkness for some time. Asuka had been leading them from the middle, as Ayanami had allowed herself to be passed and Shinji, at the front, had decided not to argue. Nary had he made a dissident peep the entire journey through the veritable catacombs, allowing Asuka to make decisions on which directions they would turn.

"Don't you dare slow down, Shinji, we're almost there. I'm sure of it," she barked, prodding him in the back with her finger.

"You've said that for three corridors now, Asuka…" he murmured.

"I heard that. You and your bullshit minor details, you remember the stupidest things. Besides, I know where I'm going, so I'm right regardless. And I'll say anything now to get you to keep up a fast enough pace, anyway." She crossed her arms indignantly.

"Is it me or is the path going up?" Shinji had an idea but wasn't about to make waves with it.

"It is," stated Ayanami from the back.

"Don't question me," quipped Asuka.

"It was an observation." One could hardly tell whether she was simply speaking or back-talking, she was so  _ neutral _ . Asuka, as usual, wasn't having it.

"Oh, little miss perfect knows so much, doesn't she? Everyone's favorite little  _ Rei _ of sunshine. Puh." That was a bad pun and everyone knew it.

"Please, don't fight. We have to-"

Underneath them, they felt the ground shake from whatever monster they were due to face. Undoubtedly it was another Angel, and they would sortie Evangelion to dispatch it, and once again they would have saved everyone. Suddenly a voice rang out in confirmation over a distant PA.

"AN ANGEL IS APPROACHING, I REPEAT. ANGEL IS APPROACHING..."

"Is that Hyuga?" asked Shinji.

"See? They must've gotten the speakers back up. We're almost at the Geofront now! I told you I was right," Asuka sneered, grabbing Shinji by the head and rubbing her knuckles into his scalp.

"Ow! Asuka! What if that-"

She began to rub harder. "What if that what?"

"The lights are still out. The system is still down," cooed the voice of reason from behind them.

"It has to be working! What do you think that is?" Asuka pointed off down the end of the corridor, and though it was difficult to believe, it appeared to be light, and as they drew closer they realized it was clearly not a mirage. It was a door hatch with a sliver of light coming from behind it. "See? Light behind the door. It has to be the way. Shinji?"

"Huh?" he replied, rubbing at his head.

"Open the door."

"Why are you always asking me?"

"Because you're supposed to be the strong one, stupid. Use some of that wasted testosterone. Your plugsuit can't cut the circulation off to your balls that much."

Shinji didn't answer at first, but sighed, and made his way over to the door. Placing his hands on the latch he managed a quiet "Fine…" and started in to undoing the hatch.

"Fine? Is that it? What's your problem anyway?" Shinji ignored the question and kept on the door. Asuka huffed. "Hey, twerp, answer me! I'm talking to you!"

"I'm opening the door!" Shinji grunted, heaving.

"You don't have to shout!" shouted Asuka. "But you always make a big deal out of the littlest things I say and you never-"

Shinji pried the door open and the light came flooding in. On the other side, the Children could see, were two figures: an older woman of about fifty or so (it was hard to tell because she was  _ gaijin _ ) and a nearly two-meter tall imposition with golden hair surrounding its face like a helmet and the longest, loudest coat that would make any designer sick to their stomach, with a little ceramic cat pinned onto the long lapel. An instant seemed like an eternity as the Children adjusted to the light and the sight of these strangers, when suddenly Shinji found the door was moving. Faster than he had managed to get it open, swifter than lightning, Asuka slammed it shut again.

"Wh- what was that? Asuka, why did you shut the door? Weren't those people out there?" he asked.

"No way those were people, Shinji," she replied, as sure as he'd ever seen her be.

"What are you talking about? They were right in front of us-"

"Shinji," she said, turning her very grave face towards his, "Look me dead in the eye and tell me you think a  _ person  _ would wear that."

***

_ SLAM _ !

No sooner than they had discovered the door (and quite the armored and protected, though currently dead, door it was), it had not only opened, but had been slammed in front of their faces, practically stamping the Doctor with a leaf on his forehead (NERV, incidentally, had a big red leaf for a logo, with the letters NE and RV each on their own line below one another beneath it).

"My," huffed Evelyn, "This NERV must be something like the Emerald City."

"Perhaps the bell is out of order. Indeed, we tried it once," The Doctor mused, after having poked at, but of course not  _ into _ the panel next to the door. It was all right, anyway. The door was broken and without power, and it was a crisis. If anything he should be finding his way inside--it was probably where he was needed the most. What's more, the seals on some of the equipment read United Nations. And who better to assist them than the scientific adviser of the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce? Though it was a title he had not taken up in some time, he was sure he still carried it.

"Then the prudent thing to do would be to knock, wouldn’t it?"

"Why not? They can't have gone too terribly far yet." He cleared his throat and stepped up to the door.

"Doctor…" she started, a drop of concern.

He turned around, his knocking hand raised. "Yes?"

"They looked like children."

"Yes, I noticed that as well. But, I'm sure they can at least give us some answers, so long as we can get back in there." He turned back around and began to rap on the door. "Hullo? Are you still there?"

No response. "...hullo?"

***

The tapping continued, Asuka still standing firm by the door. Shinji started to grimace.

"Asuka, there's an Angel out there. They could be in trouble."

"No way, Shinji. I'm not letting those weirdos into NERV, no matter what. They should have evacuated with the rest of the plebs."

Shinji scowled and turned to Ayanami. She was still stoic. "But we can't…"

"They should have evacuated. Entering NERV would be a security breach." Ayanami, it seemed for the first time today, agreed with Asuka.

"See? Even Wondergirl thinks we shouldn't let them in."

"But they're outside in an angel attack and we're supposed to protect them. Where's the nearest shelter?"

Asuka pursed her lips, not wanting to admit she didn't know the answer to that. Then both of them, in perfect sync, looked to Ayanami.

"...the nearest shelter is about two kilometers to the north."

"See, Asuka?" said Shinji, retaking the initiative. "It's too far to let them go without help."

"Rrgh, fine," Asuka snarled. "I'll just tell them to go that way, then. They aren't entering NERV HQ or the Geofront without a pass on my watch." She started to unlock the door again.

***

"Maybe they have gone, Doctor," said Evelyn, leaning on a nearby pass card reader.

"Well, then, I suppose we'll have to find a way in otherwise." The Doctor turned from the door and started back toward her, to maybe find another solution. "Perhaps if I had a jolt of electricity, I could engage the security protocol temporarily and reset the system."

"The lock on the door sounded physical, Doctor. You can't electrocute a deadbolt."

"Perhaps, but maybe with the right electromagnetic wave resonance-"

"Hey, you!" a voice called from the door. The two turned and saw that one of the young people, the red-haired girl, had reopened the door and was asking for their attention.

"Why, hello!" answered back Evelyn, smart but matronly. "We were afraid you'd run off and left us."

"You should have evacuated with everyone else."

"Ah, well, be that as it may," began the Doctor, "you don't suppose we could step inside? There's a very large spider on the loose out here."

"A spider? You mean you saw the Angel?" butted in another. A young boy, it seemed, almost completely average-looking. Both of the teens were in school uniforms of a sort, him in a white shirt and black slacks, the girl in a blue and white dress with a red ribbon.

"Yes, it separated us from our vehicle and forced us this way," answered Evelyn, sparing the teenagers the "time travellers" bit.

"Come on, Asuka, they can't make it in time, let them in," he implored her. She however, was not having it.

"You idiot!" she hissed. "Don't say my name out loud in front of the foreigners!"

"But I-"

"Rrrgh. We can't let them in here."

"What does the Angel look like?" A third voice, softer, leaked out from the back. This, when Asuka and the young man parted, belonged to a skinny girl in the same dress as her compatriot with impossibly blue hair to the root, almost as if it grew in that way. The Doctor furrowed his brow, and it seemed apparent he was noticing something about this one.

"I suppose a sort of overgrown daddy-long-legs, with a smaller body. It made footfall in front of us. Foot as wide as the street."

"Which is why we were separated from our vehicle. Look, I don't mean to assert myself too much, but in dealing with such as this, I am something of an authority. I've been dealing with creatures like that since before you were born. We can help, if you'll let us in." The Doctor opened his eyes again, wide and friendly. Yes, he was convincing children, but it was them between him and oblivion and he wasn't about to let that creature have its way.

"Uh huh, who sent you?" asked Asuka. "Who do you work for, then, Mister Expert?"

"I am on semi-permanent retainer with the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce, as consultant and scientific adviser."

"Semi-permanent?"

"I do take… holidays now and again."

"Asuka, he says he works with the UN. Isn't that enough?"

"United Nations Intelligence Taskforce…" she cringed.

"Yes, UNIT," said the Doctor.

"Sounds like a load of crap."

"Young lady!" sniped Evelyn. "You shouldn't speak so lowly as to be beneath your dignity."

"Young lady, my ass! You pre-Second Impact types really get uptight."

"Second Impact?" she asked, clearly puzzled.

"Oh now I know you're full of sh-"

_ BOOM! _ The Angel could be heard crashing in the distance, and the ground began to rumble.

"The Angel is attacking the Geofront," said the blue-haired girl. "We need to move."

"Please, I've seen it, I work for the United Nations, and I have defended this planet since before you were born. Let me help you!" pleaded the Doctor, especially to the blue-haired girl. Instinctively he knew she would be the key in the decision.

Ayanami paused for a good while and stared the newcomers down methodically, almost mechanically. Finally, she whispered, "...let them pass."

"What?! Are you crazy?" Asuka still wasn't having any of it.

"They can give a statement to Captain Katsuragi and be held for questioning." Still matter-of-fact throughout, Ayanami turned and began back down the corridor.

"Ayanami!" Shinji shouted. "Don't leave without us."

The blue-haired girl only paused briefly. "There is no more time. The Angel must be stopped. We need to get to the cage." And with that she began back down into the darkness of the corridors.

"Rrgh," Asuka groaned. "There she goes, just pinning us with…  _ this _ ."

"Asuka, she's right. We can't spare another minute."

Asuka's face contorted and grew redder and redder as if to burst. She frowned and growled one last time and finally exhaled. "Fine. They can come, but in our custody to be remitted to security when we get back."

"It's a start," said the Doctor, making his way to the door. "Come on, Dr Smythe."

Evelyn rolled her eyes and started after him. "Thank Heaven for that," she muttered.

"You two between me and Shinji," Asuka spat, crossing her arms as they walked past.

"What am I supposed to do?" asked Shinji, now in front.

"Follow Wondergirl, you twit!"

"Oh, right. Sorry…"

And the party of now four began making their way down the corridor to follow the mysterious Miss Ayanami to the Geofront, where the Doctor and Evelyn would hopefully find a much older person to talk to in Captain Katsuragi.


	2. Out Came the Sun

That morning it was fairly warm, even before the sun came up. The temperature was fair, the breeze was light and airy, and the cicadas chirped their usual triumphant squeal at regular, predictable intervals. It had the makings of a marvelous day, even though a better part of it was due to be spent indoors.

"Vote for Takahashi! Takahashi for city council! Takahashi will never let you down! Progress is his middle name!" blared a young woman's voice over a megaphone, attached to a small van circling this particular district of Tokyo-3. It seemed every election cycle these things got louder and more piercing, no matter how much older and more deaf anybody got.  _ Perhaps _ , she thought, _ it was perfect political targeting. Only in Japan… _

"Those vans get louder year after year," her compatriot commented, seemingly reading her mind. The much smaller woman almost always agreed with her, even when she didn't realize it. Which, she supposed, would probably be her undoing some day.

"And we get older year after year. Perhaps they want us to keep hearing them as we age. Only in Japan do we have such an extreme predilection for concerns of the elderly." Since the other one was reading her mind anyway, she figured making those thoughts known wouldn't be too imposing on the open air. She swiped her card in the machine and the door opened, revealing a bundle of clothes, cleaned and pressed and neatly folded, wrapped in plastic. Only in Japan, indeed.

"After Second Impact I suppose we should be grateful any of us are aged at all," posed the little woman, collecting her own wrapped bundles.

"After anything," came a deeper voice, "I'm glad we even get time off. Work's great and all but have you ever tried not working? Man…" This voice belonged to a man, a gentle longhair, with a much smaller bundle of his own now, and an electric guitar gig bag strapped to his back. "It's nice to have some time to yourself."

The little woman scowled softly and retorted. "Not enough time to do our own washing! It's murder on my budget."

"True, money's earned and then spent. Got about enough for this can of coffee from the machine here. Have to skip lunch this week, though, so it'll have to last. Think you can put a word in for a little raise, Dr Akagi?" He turned to her with a salacious grin.

She shrugged at him, tilting her head, eyes downcast in resignment. "I'll ask Captain Katsuragi and the Vice Commander but you know how much power I have over things at NERV."

"Too bad. If we were any more regimented we'd be the military, and any less we'd threaten unionization." He opened the door for the ladies, allowing Dr. Akagi and then the smaller woman to exit with their bundles before him. The small woman turned to him with a smile.

"Maybe it wouldn't be so bad, Aoba-san, to unassumingly walk the middle path to grace?" she chided, and then snickered.

"You know I can't toe the line while I walk the edge, Ibuki."

"Too cool for the rest of us, huh?"

"You know it." They were, of course, both kidding about these things, being as familiar with one another as they were by then, but Dr. Akagi couldn't help but feel a twinge of melancholy behind those words. The lonely Aoba, with nobody in his life but his guitar and Yes LPs. He really was too cool for the rest of them. Much like the Hedgehog's Dilemma, which she had made reference to in conversation with Captain Katsuragi some weeks prior, were there so few people left after Second Impact still active, healthy, and without personality disorders? Maybe it was because she was ultimately responsible for the psychiatric evaluations of the staff that such things were often on her mind.

"Still, it would be nice to have some time to carry these home before going to work," groaned Ibuki. "What a terribly Japanese way of life, to have to carry your laundry with you." It seemed she agreed with Dr. Akagi once more, so much so that the good doctor didn't have to say a word on their way to the train station.

"Don't worry, they hide the fun stuff," Aoba teased. Ibuki pursed her lips, increased her pace, and bumped him with her hip, passing him out. Which, it seemed, was what he really wanted all along--to be at the back of the bus. The trio made their way in the warm, summery air to the nearby station, where they would meet the special, government-sanctioned train to the Geofront and back to the daily grind. Which for them meant hours of tests and computer readouts today. There was one advantage to a government train, however: They were likely going to be the only passengers. Theirs was a secretive business, and with all the talk of laundry and time off that passed the non-menial hours in public, they weren't really able to talk as freely for fear of being whisked away in breach of some sub-clause of a special secrets law or NDA that they signed years ago in perpetuity. In blood.

Interestingly enough they were in for a surprise. As they boarded the train they were met with the sight of an older man seated alone on the bench, reading the day's newspaper with the quiet reverence that only someone of a certain age could.

"Vice Commander?" Ibuki exclaimed, almost shocked at the sight of him anywhere but at Headquarters. He looked up to her, and by extension them, and his gaze softened, but only slightly. Protocol would of course prohibit much more for an under-colleague, after all. Still, it seemed the old man wasn't at all miffed at their presence.

As the highest ranking, and first to board, Akagi greeted him first, politely, with a tinge toward hinting at a deeper subtext. "Good morning, sir," she said, the corners of her made-up lips curling up.

"Good morning," muttered Aoba, before making his way to the opposite corner of the car. A polite but noticeable distance that seemed to say  _ I'm here and I'll talk when I want to _ .

"Good morning, Vice Commander," greeted Ibuki, polite and engaged, almost glad to see the old man at her level for once.

"Good morning, Aoba, Ibuki. Dr Akagi," he replied with a gentle nod, in his polite yet arthritic manner.

"I'm surprised to see you on the peasant's train," remarked Akagi. "And this early. We don't start our procedures for hours now."

"Yes, but today I had a special task. Our fearless leader, the Commander, gave me the privilege of going downtown to speak with the city council."

Akagi chortled quietly. "Oh, it must be the last rubber stamp day before the 'election'."

"Indeed. He certainly doles me the best jobs. If it weren't for the Magi running the show I don't know how I would deal with it. I'm a scientist, not a politician."

"The Magi?" questioned Ibuki, leaning in. "You don't mean our own Magi supercomputer, surely?"

"The same. The city council doesn't do much of anything really, but it seems to reassure the population well enough."

"The computer runs the city. Amazing…"

"It's not without some deliberation in the process," remarked Akagi. "Every governmental issue is run through the three Magi computers and the three end results are weighed and averaged between them. Then the city council approves the printout and things get done."

"An effective and wholly democratic system with very little waste," finished the old man.

"Science is truly leading the City of the Future after all," said Ibuki, still in amazement.

"Pftch," uttered Aoba. "When you put it that way it sounds so... old-fashioned. Who says anything like that? 'Science Leads'..."

"It's not nearly as far-fetched as the flying car, but it was a bit of a dream in my youth, to be sure," said the old man, pointedly, to which the younger one turned his eyes away and retreated back to his corner. "At least the governmental affairs are through for now and you can use the Magi to your heart's content. You do have a test scheduled for today, am I correct?"

"Yes, sir," replied Akagi. "Extended activation test for Eva Unit-00 begins at 10:30."

"I hope it goes well," he said, not at all portentously.

* * *

The day had barely begun and it was dragging like hell. Outside, the Geofront was lush and verdant, bright light baking the grass and creating a veritable underground Eden. Topside, even with the elements to contend with, the late summer air was warm and pleasant, and a light breeze carried the sound of the cicadas over the trees and the buildings. A warm buzz that was unbeatable, and either place perfectly matched with a cold Yebisu. Anything for a cold beer on a hot day, and spent in Nature's beauty. Such was the true intention of life. Even if it were spent indoors, with the windows down and the air conditioner blowing it would beat…

The  _ elevator _ .

The elevators at NERV were few in number, slow, and took forever. First, a person had to wait to call one, and they would be lucky to wait under fifteen minutes. It was better to learn the shifts where people needed them and try to synchronize based on the necessity of the staff, as if the lifts were an unofficial, unscheduled, hivemind-run train service. Not to mention, 80% of the complex, which included the pyramid in the Geofront and countless storeys down, was truly only accessible by elevator. Escalators and stairs would make up the slack in areas within departments, but traversing one department to another required the use of the lifts. The City of the Future did have more than a few accessibility issues and that was one of them.

Once one stepped into a NERV elevator, they were in for a ride. A very long one. Nobody knew why, in an age of high-speed elevators that could ascend 200 storeys in mere minutes, the lifts at NERV took their sweet, chain-driven time, as if a single person, perhaps some giant, were slowly turning a big wheel to raise and lower them. Standing alone in one, the gentle hum of the fan and the tiny clicking sound of the manual floor indicator would almost disappear from one's mind and leave the occupant in a void. If it weren't for the door eventually opening, however long it would take for the elevator to reach a stopping point, a single occupant could lose complete track of time in there. Most who used those lifts, in fact, would do so after countless crawlingly slow rides, and would become completely resigned to the wait, even if the elevator stopped without their realizing it.

But somehow invariably when the day was getting this bad and one was separated by a long commute from the aforementioned cold Yebisu, one occupant somehow found herself singular amongst many in the cramped teal and pink lift. She stood alone, the rest of the riders silent and granting her a halo of politeness. It was true, she carried a high rank in the organization, and was invariably superior to all of them. Perhaps it truly is lonely at the top, with hardly anybody else to talk to. Especially in an elevator, where the very Japanese staff would never be caught dead talking.

Being alone among many taxed her particularly highly, and on a day already too long after only about two hours total (less transit time in lifts) on the clock. Although, once they all left the lift the door took its sweet time closing, and as if gifted by the most vengeful trickster god with a cure for her loneliness, she found herself wanting nothing more than to stay alone in the lift as she quietly reached over and stabbed at the close door button.

"Hey! Hold that door!" She kept stabbing, and the door finally started to shut on him. But as her luck would have it, he made it to the door just in the nick of time. Yippee. Under her breath and almost completely out of the range of hearing she hissed a swear word.

He was a little out of breath, heaving brusquely like he needed yet another cigarette. As always he smelled like his disgusting unfiltered trash sticks. She figured the smoke collected in his perpetual stubble and stayed to reek and make her already lousy day worse.

"Whoompf. Thanks, Katsuragi."

"Kaji," she replied, curt, keeping her face firmly forward. He made his way to the back of the elevator instead and leaned on the corner to finish his dog-like panting episode. What a dog…

"Almost missed that door, thanks for pushing that button."

"I try, sometimes." And after all that silence she spent with the other flotilla, she hoped to any other god listening that maybe this thing could hurry up before she had to talk to  _ him _ .

* * *

As 10:30 approached, the cage had been filled with a single Evangelion--one of the three multi-storey-tall humanoid replicant heavy carriers in NERV-Japan's purview. These enormous, building-sized machines were constantly used and run through their paces. When not being piloted against Angels, they were often being serviced, tuned-up, and retooled for maximum efficiency. Today was set aside for an extended activation test. The Evangelion required vast amounts of power to operate, and most of the time they were plugged into giant transformers scattered throughout Tokyo-3 via giant cables that ran power to the transformer from the main reactor itself. Then Tokyo-3 itself, by the grace of TEPCO and grants from the Japanese government and special defense forces, did power these machines in battle.

When an Evangelion was unable to reach a cable, they contained a small (in relative terms) reserve battery to keep them operational until a new source of power was located. This battery lasted about three minutes in normal operation, powering essential systems for locomotion and life support for the pilot. Theoretically the time varied based on activity but three to five minutes was about the higher-end average. Therefore, since these machines were almost always on external power, they needed to be tested at progressively longer intervals in reserve mode to ensure that they were in proper working order and could last longer periods untethered, especially after a tune up or retool. Experiments such as this one were set up to test the limits of the Evangelion, for even though all the recorded figures concerning the standard operation of the units were always within variances that had several zeroes before the decimal point, the future of humanity itself was worth pushing those limits. Unfortunately…

_ ERROR _ .

In large flashing letters across the screen, an error message appeared. It seems that Murphy would always move against anyone who was given good luck by their superior, especially when the future of humanity itself was at stake.

"Hold omega factor at fourteen-degrees. Compensate for variance," Akagi yelled over the klaxons. "0.008."

"Unable compensation, reading instability in lower base pair," called Ibuki back.

Akagi pressed a button and leaned over the terminal. "Central Dogma?"

Aoba's voice came over the intercom, "Central."

"Priority one, Magi interlink. Raise power factor to point eight-nine."

"Roger, factor to point-eight nine. Approaching practical limit."

She took her finger off the little tab and sighed. "At least we can get something out of the recording."

The computer terminals sprang to life with a more serious-looking error message. A single word on scroll, surrounded by red exclamation points.  _ !!EMERGENCY!! _

Ibuki, with diligence, read the reports aloud. "Emergency message. Magi reports coming in, Unit 00 reaching critical activation maximums."

"Shut it down. Release valves A through D and reset. Begin cooldown cycle, prep the Eva for reset. Stand by cage for storage pending first diagnostic."

"Reports complete, isolating base pair."

"I'm sure I know where the problem is."

"You think it's the twenty-third section again?"

"It has to be, that's the last corner something like this could hide in."

The computer terminal flooded with a cascade of paired letters.  _ ATTCTCCTGGTATCCCTGTG… _ Scrolling through this stream, Ibuki located a red pair. The screen registered this as the error, and information poured into an adjacent window.

"Confirmed, that's exactly where it faulted. Instability in the lower phase." Ibuki began cross referencing data through the Magi, parsing the error messages and reports for connections.

"The compensation didn't hold. That's going to be a bother moving forward." Dr. Akagi rubbed at the bridge of her nose.

"We're looking at a conversion efficiency of point oh oh eight lower than the theoretical value. We can't push the output unless the variance matches projection by oh oh five."

"Hm…" Akagi sighed, deeply.

Another technician chimed in. "Dr. Akagi, our measuring equipment can't round lower than point oh one. How do we proceed?"

"Let's try lowering inter-conversion values by point oh one and try again. We can reason what the difference is by the gaps."

"Roger, point oh one. Resetting."

"Sending orders to the cage. Aoba-kun, did you copy that?" Ibuki asked into the microphone.

"Roger," rattled the little speaker, "Central Dogma ready. All power stages open and set for refire."

"I guess this will be a re-activation test now…" sighed Akagi, again, her voice sounding eager for a cup of coffee and a cigarette.

* * *

_ Tick, tick, tick…  _ ( _ Could this thing be any slower? _ )

Katsuragi kept to her side of the lift. Kaji, however, seemed to be completely at home in the entire elevator. Something about his tryhard machismo seemed to fill the tiny space. Or maybe it was the pervasive scent he carried of tobacco and cheap body wash.

"Nice day," he tossed out, trying to break the silence.

"It was," she replied coldly, and in the opposite direction.

"Yeah, I guess this beats homelessness but at least a vagrant can spend the day outside in the nice weather, eh?"

She grunted back. After an indeterminate, transdimensionally impossible amount of pause later he started to speak again.

"So, no Angels on the horizon. You must keep busy somehow, though. Paperwork?"

"Enough."

"No way, not with the amount of bureaucracy we've got in this facility. I'll bet for every one of us there's a hundred faceless salarymen on a hidden floor, crunching numbers that nobody but Ikari will ever see."

"I said  _ enough _ , Kaji."

"Well, well. Sorry, Katsuragi. Didn't mean to cloud your rainy day."

"What does that even mean?" She turned to face him, snarling and ready for a fight. He, instead, huffed a little chortle.

"Heh… Your nose still bunches up when you're irritated."

"You still irritate me."

"Fair."

"What are you doing?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean what are you  _ doing _ right now? And don't be funny and say 'standing' or 'miring' or some tripe."

"One of  _ those  _ days? I have some painkillers in my office if you need them-"

"STOP!" she shouted, loud enough to be heard on the next floor.

"I do have them, though," he said, unaffected.

"I don't care what you have tucked away in your little closet. Stop this…  _ thing _ ."

"Thing?"

"This  _ thing _ you're doing, it's not cute. It's not fitting either."

"What's that?"

"Don't be coy with me, Kaji. I know you too well for that." She crammed a finger into his chest. His big, dumb, strapping chest.

"Never mind that, what is  _ this _ here?" he asked, looking down at his big, dumb, strapping, finger-pressed-into chest. "Power-harassment?"

"Wh- No! God, you're still doing it!"

"Doing what?"

"Filling a tiny space with your overinflated ego."

"Now, that I can't help, it's just sheer animal magnetism. You can't change what you're born with."

She groaned. "Look, Kaji, ever since you came here it's been like… like…"

"Like what?"

"Like let me have a complete thought, you ass."

"Okay, go on, I'm all ears." It was true. He had funny ears. They had a kind of weird curve, sticking out but only in one spot. Attached to that disgusting masculine jawline that could chisel diamonds. Really  _ ugly  _ diamonds.

"Like things  _ were… _ like we were still…"

He sat there, waiting, with the same dumb look on his face. Of all the times for him to seem understanding and he still was there, being such a…  _ man _ . And how brazen of a man he was, to dare to try and move her hand away with his big, warm, man-paws.

"Katsuragi," he whispered, wrapping his fingers around her hand. "Could you maybe-"

"Maybe what?" she snapped.

"Maybe put your hand down?"

She realized what she was doing. Her hand had joined her finger and was pressing into his chest, and he had then gathered his hand around hers. In that moment all of existence opened itself up and she reached perfect clarity, and consequently realized something was wrong and it wasn't Kaji.

"...do you hear that?"

"Is it the tension in the air… or is something wrong with the elevator?"

No sooner did he say this than the elevator stopped humming, the floor lurched, and a tremendous clunking like an emergency brake on the cable rang through the cab.

"Emergency power. We're stuck," he said, stating the obvious.

"At NERV? There's no way. We'll switch to standby any second."

"Maybe it was a total power failure? You think anything could pull that off?"

"Not likely, there's four backups."

"Heh. Then maybe Akagi goofed something up in the big box."

* * *

" _ Achoo! _ " she sneezed, glancing about the room. She looked up from her sleeve, no eyes on her but clearly someone had been talking about her. Into the thick cloth she swore, " _ Damn, the power's out and they're already blaming me. _ "

Akagi stood in the dark, a single enormous red salt lamp from the adjacent big Eva test box lighting the room. She seemed stunned. "I didn't even give the order, there was no surge or reversal. Not even a positive current. So what could have happened?"

Ibuki tapped at her keyboard, trying with an empty clack every key combination she knew to use for resetting systems when the mains failed. "It's all dead. Voltage is zero. All dead across the board. No link to any other department, nothing."

"Impossible. We should at least have some emergency power."

The other technician spoke up. "Battery backup is failing. Last report confirmed Evangelion secure."

"At least there's that… Keep trying to hail Central Dogma. I'm going to see about getting the door open. Don't go anywhere, we might need the muscle."

"Roger," replied the man, looking over his left at a much younger man. "Hirano-kun, get ready. I'm going under the panel to check wires so you keep an eye on Dr Akagi for me."

"Yes, sir," he said, adjusting his collar and cracking his knuckles.

"Maya, you're with me," Dr. Akagi whispered in her assistant's ear.

"Yes,  _ senpai _ ," replied Ibuki, hopping out of her chair.

Akagi and Ibuki shuffled in the darkness to the door. It didn't require much in that situation to confirm its being sealed, but just the same Akagi pulled a pen torch from inside of her magic lab coat--it always seemed to have everything in it, as if it were bigger on the inside. A quick wave over the access panels and keypads and all was clear.

"Just as dead as the others. Let's get this panel off and see if there's a spare knob. Add that to the list of disadvantages of living in the City of the Future."

"Would it be better having a regular door in an important room like this?" asked Ibuki.

"Security protocols would never permit it, you're right. It needs to be magnetically sealed in case of… accidents…" She started to trail off, deliberately hiding the end of her sentence by removing a large panel marked  _ Auxiliary _ .

"Accidents… such as this?" Maya was inquisitive but not invasive. In fact, her tone was of genuine curiosity. Every question she posed to her  _ senpai _ seemed always in great admiration, and in spite of the danger the questions may have posed it always made the doctor's painted lips curl upwards.

"Such as beyond our pay grade permits knowing," she quipped, deflecting. "Thankfully there are some mechanical failsafes on the locks. If the computers were up we would actually be in more trouble."

"Why?"

Akagi wrenched a long metal pin out from behind the panel and threw a very loud, cranky switch. She gave the pin to her understudy and smiled. "Because the Magi control the electromagnetic seal to these rooms directly and can override in case of threat to the facility. Thankfully, Judgement Day is long since behind us."

"Pardon?" Ibuki blinked, contemplating the little pin in her hand. It had a shape to it, a curve and a crook, almost as if it were a pick for an old lock.

"Don't lose that, Maya, we need it to open the hatches that lead to Central Dogma."

"R-right. Understood."

"Now that the magnets should be disengaged, I'll show you how to use it. Do you see the small opening right here?" Akagi shined her pen torch on the door. If one wasn't paying attention they would miss the small indentation.

"Yes, I see it."

"Good. Take the key," she whispered, taking Maya's hand and guiding it up, "and place it in here like this. Very gently now, it's sensitive."

Maya complied, gently pushing the key in until she felt it stop. "L-like this,  _ senpai _ ?"

"Yes. Now just a click to the left."  _ Click. _ "And rotate the key to the right."

Maya completed her task and the door released itself. She started to let out a quiet victorious  _ yessss _ , but the door stopped with a grinding squeal after about three centimeters. Akagi leaned in close again.

"And now put the key in your pocket and say nothing, especially if you have to open any of these for anybody else. TAKAHASHI-KUN!" She called out back to the man under the desk.

Hirano, of course, found himself responding instead.

* * *

"Where's that emergency lighting?" called the old man into the vast room.

"Can't even figure why the backup generator isn't working. She really fried it this time…" muttered the younger one, brushing his hair back and running a flashlight up and down a panel. "Too bad Ibuki is with Akagi and Hyuga isn't here. Between the three of those eggheads we could scrounge something together."

"Keep your idle chatter to your pocket," commanded a quiet, raspy voice from above them.

"They aren't here, so you will have to manage, Aoba." The old man was unhappy, but clearly more displeased with being a middleman, especially at a time like this.

Deep in Central Dogma, the brain and nerve-center of NERV, all the computer screens were blank. The massive holographic map, crafted in Germany by the most esteemed engineers for GEHRIN, was as black as night. Save for the light from battery powered evacuation strips along walkways and a few distant flashlights from secondary contingents below the central command post, it was nigh pitch in there, like a cave. Or a tomb.

"Nothing wrong with the wires," scoffed Aoba from under the desk. "There's just nothing coming through them. Dead in the water."

"Fuyutsuki…" rasped the voice from the command platform above. The old man groaned in his throat and shone his penlight to the wall, finding some hitherto unused holes in the panels that one could use to ascend to the command pillar.

"There's the ladder. Here I come, then. Such is the life of a  _ Vice- _ Commander…" He sounded bitter, even though he was barely audible.

Aoba pulled himself out from under the desk to find himself at the end of a lit candle. He looked up to the hand, then the body connected to it, offering it to him with a smile.

"Lieutenant Aoba, we found the emergency supplies. At least one box," mused the young woman, sounding fairly optimistic.

"Huh. Well I suppose candlelight will save batteries. And my eyesight," he said, taking it. "Keep me from being able to see what I'm doing."

"Pardon?" she questioned, crestfallen.

"Try and find some more, this is hardly even up to mood lighting."

"Y-yes, sir."

Her boots clapped quickly away.

"Heh," he laughed in his throat. "Sir."

* * *

"Fuyutsuki." The gruff voice always sounded impersonal.

"Commander," whispered the old man as he approached.

"The power is out with no explanation. As many failsafes and backups there are in this facility there still isn't any power coming in."

"I believe I understand where you are taking this."

"Yes."

"We cannot prove its not being a simple incursion."

"Very few people know how all of those failsafes work."

"I know, it's one of the failsafes."

"But we also happen to be the primary target. I understand your reluctance, being a man of science, but we cannot rule out the possibility."

"Then speaking as neither scientist nor investigator, if what you say is true then we are at an impressive difficulty. We cannot sortie Evangelion without power, at least not without considerable effort. And with the limited battery of the Evangelion, we cannot guarantee decisive victory."

"The Evangelion is the only hope for humanity's future."

"Yes, I have been told at various points. Are you aware of the location of the pilots?"

"Sector four, 2A. Underway. They will come."

"A considerable amount of faith from a commander."

"A considerable amount of distrust of independent variables?" Despite his monotone nature, one could hear his eyebrow creaking upward.

"No, if we are to accept things as they are meant to be, you are right. I merely mean to offer alternatives."

"Alternatives are unnecessary at this moment. What we need is a great deal of muscle. Coordinate with the staff. Every able-bodied man on standby for manual launch of all three Evangelion."

"And the girls?"

"Anybody willing to hoist an Evangelion by hand without complaint may join. Objections are not an option."

"Very well. I'll begin rattling down the chain of command."

"I also have a favor--if you'll examine the box behind panel C…"

* * *

The sun, whose rays were all ablaze, had soon begun to beat down. A pleasant morning was shaping up to become a hot afternoon, as the delicate hum of the distant cicadas chirrupped on in spite of it all. Somehow life did go on, it seemed.

Somehow it seemed it didn't when one had to wait at a crossing light. What seemed like an eternity after the same paths were crossed by Dr. Akagi and her cohorts from NERV en route to the train station, stood one straggler, already behind on the day.

"Whoomph," he puffed. "Captain Katsuragi sure has a lot of laundry. 'Could you do me a little itty bitty favor, Hyuga-kun?' Heh. I wouldn't complain if they didn't wrap them in plastic on a day like this. Guess it keeps them fresh from the new sweat though…"

He paused a minute. And another. And the longer he paused the more he realized.

"Here I am talking to myself when there's… No traffic? Is it just me or is this light taking forever?"

He narrowed his eyes behind his spectacles and slowly craned his neck left and right to discover that the traffic lights were dark. In fact, everything seemed dark.

"No, those are all off. Power outage? What about…"

Another pause, this time more grave.

"And not a bird in the sky… That can't be good."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>   
Next time:
> 
>   
The Angel approaches NERV, while the crew hurry to get the lights back on before it arrives... The stage is finally set! Will the Doctor, Evelyn, and the pilots arrive in time? What was behind the compartment the Commander was whispering about? Will Katsuragi and Kaji survive in the elevator before heat exhaustion or murder take place? And what of Hyuga, on the streets of Tokyo-3 by himself? These and many more questions will be answered in the next chapter:
> 
>   
THE DAY TOKYO-3 STOOD STILL
> 
> **And as always, expect lots of fanservice!!**  

> 
> (Sorry for taking so long and delivering less, it's like I'm working on Studio Khara's timetable...)


End file.
